Orisha in the Key of Life: A Preliminary Study on the Akpon in Orisha Music

Abstract

This thesis examines and initiates the process of filling a gap in the academic study of Orisha Music, a subfield of Africana Religions. Despite the integral role that akpons – the song leaders – play during Lucumi drumming ceremonies, most of the major works focus on drums and/or drumming, while relegating akpons to little more than footnotes in them. This work is approached from the perspective of a scholar-practitioner and an apprenticing musician in the Lucumi tradition to consider who these song leaders are to their communities. After reviewing the aforementioned texts and analyzing the context in which akpons are situated, this thesis offers a preliminary treatise on how exactly akpons contribute to drumming ceremonies and Lucumi practice.